Cricket | Momentum One Day Cup

Relieved Klusener calls for consistency

Sunfoil Dolphins coach Lance Klusener has admitted to relief after his side’s first Momentum One-Day Cup victory of the season and has challenged his players to maintain their performance levels when they face up to the Nashua Titans on Friday.

The two sides meet in a second versus third clash at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead in Durban – the home side jumped from bottom of the log to third with a convincing 128-run win over the Chevrolet Knights in Bloemfontein on Wednesday.

“I think we were due for a performance,” Klusener said on Thursday. “So yes (it was a relief for the players). We have been working exceptionally hard and we do feel like we’ve been letting ourselves down.

“It was nice to get on the board and the challenge now is to put a performance like this on the table week in and week out.”

Victory was the first across all competitions this season, although inclement weather had played a role in all the others. They have so far lost their Momentum One-Day Cup matches to the Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras and the bizhub Higveld Lions, while having their home match against the Chevrolet Warriors washed out.

Klusener feels the biggest challenge now will be for his players to start becoming more consistent.

“We haven’t really put it all together,” he said. “If you put the batting, which was good last night, with a reasonably good bowling performance like we did, then you get those results.

“We’ve been mixing good batting with poor bowling and vice versa, which makes it impossible to win.”

Despite climbing to third, Klusener admitted it was still early days in the competition. “I think the log will only start to take shape after about seven or eight games, as we get towards the end. “As good as we were last night, we need to be a lot more consistent.”

As for the Nashua Titans, the Sunfoil Dolphins coach added: “They’re a really good team, like all the other sides are in this competition. There are no easy games and we’ll have to play well again.”

On the other hand, visiting coach Matthew Maynard has watched his side storm back after they were annihilated by the bizhub Highveld Lions in their opening game, a result that came on the back of their Champions League Twenty20 exit. Successive wins since over the Cobras and Knights have lifted them to second, although they trail runaway leaders Lions by a massive 10 points.

“To lose the semifinal of the Champions League off the last ball of the game took a lot out of the players,” Maynard said. “I don’t think we recovered in time for that first game against the Lions, but since then the guys have responded fantastically.”

Maynard said he was pleased with the way thing were coming together for his charges. “Our batting looks very solid and so does our spin department,” he added. “We still got a bit of work to do with our seamers, but that’s an ongoing process.